This invention relates to apparatus for use in supporting the roof of an underground mine working over a zone exposed by the passage of a mining machine along an upright face of the working, and by which a flexible mat is applied to the roof which has been newly exposed and is fixed thereto.
The invention has been developed primarily in relation to the requirement to support the roof of an underground coal mine working in which coal is mined by the method of long wall coal mining and the mining machine is a coal winning machine.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,785 I describe apparatus for applying a flexible mat to the roof of an underground mine working in which a directing means for applying the mat has an operative connection with a means providing a controlling output representing the height of the roof, such that the height of the directing means is controlled in accordance with roof height.
In one such arrangement the operative connection is established by mounting the directing means on a scraper or clearer plate sometimes known as a shield plate or cowl which itself is mounted coaxially with a cutting cylinder of the mining machine.
Preferably the directing means is detachably mounted in contrast with a permanent connection. Such a detachable connection, whether on the cowl or on some other part of the machine, allows the mat directing means to be disconnected at any desired time so that it does not obstruct or otherwise impede a 180.degree. reversal of the member on which the mat directing means is carried, necessary whenever the mining machine reverses direction.
The directing means may form part of a mat applicator with accessory devices such as a device for stapling the laid matting strips together.
One of the problems encountered with such an arrangement is that each time the mining machine is reversed in direction at the limits of travel, the mat applicator and other accessories have to be disconnected from the support member and then reconnected, all of which can take a considerable length of time. Furthermore in particular when the machine is inclined to the horizontal, such operations can be difficult, and personnel operating the machine can be exposed to hazards.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that overcomes or reduces the above mentioned problems.
A further object of the invention is to provide a form of mining machine which can be brought readily into and out of service when component parts are required to be replaced, notwithstanding that they may be difficult to manhandle and when supplementary appliances such as mat applicator means, mined material deflecting means such as shield plate, or other appliances such as props are required to be moved, whether for the purpose of installing them on the machine or removing them therefrom, or otherwise handling them.